


pull the trigger (and watch me bleed)

by maridoll



Category: One Piece
Genre: One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27614195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maridoll/pseuds/maridoll
Summary: “this isn’t working out how i thought it would,” ace admits
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	pull the trigger (and watch me bleed)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pyromania](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931418) by [Chicken_NuggetsYum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chicken_NuggetsYum/pseuds/Chicken_NuggetsYum). 



> admittedly i never finished the fic but i was thinkin abt certain power dynamics today and remembered this existed and was like oh, perfect! and then 2k appeared out of nowhere

sabo crouches down to step over his handcuffs, but he underestimates ace’s recovery time, and then next thing he knows he’s being tackled to the ground, unable to process anything beyond the insatiable pain in his shoulders from his arms being jerked in their sockets. sabo’s mouth opens around the gag as he releases a pained whine, completely involuntarily. his legs are curled because his shoes are still pressed to the chains of the cuffs. he tries to wiggle but his arms scream in protest and he stops immediately. 

on top of him, ace hums in thought, twisting to dig his elbow further in sabo’s chest. “fuck,” he mutters, reaching up to feel along his jaw, where a bruise is already forming. he glances down again and notices sabo’s position, the tight pain in his eyes, the way his arms are stiff. he follows them down and breathes out.

“oh, is that all you wanted?” ace closes his eyes for a moment, thinking, and then nods rapidly. “that should be okay.” 

before sabo can process, ace climbs off of him. he starts shifting immediately, sliding one shoe off the back of the chains, but then ace bends down again and slams their heads together, until sabo’s is tossed back against the hard concrete. he gasps around the rope, dizzy, closing his eyes as stars block his view. ace reaches down and jerks sabo’s hands forward until his cuffs are in front of his body. sabo can’t appreciate it beyond the pounding of his head, done in retaliation so he wouldn’t try anything, he knows.

“you have to tell me if you want something,” ace sings, far too close. his fingers come up to press near sabo’s hairline, where the skin is darkening from the impact. “that’s payback from earlier.”

the last thing sabo needs is to reopen his nose wound, so he smartly contains his snort, held back by the tang of blood in his throat from earlier. ace’s fingers move higher, tangling into his hair. sabo resists a shudder at the touch, but it becomes necessary as ace’s other hand moves to one of his arms, tugging lightly on it. his breathing stills but he does his best not to make a sound. not that it does anything. ace has already noticed.

“hmm. and now you’ve hurt yourself. really, sab, you have to be more careful.” he leans close, until his words leave puffs of air on sabo’s cheek. “if you do that, there won’t be anything left for me to do.”

ace jerks on his arm again and sabo is so blinded by pain he hardly notices himself being hauled up, not until his back roughly meets the wall and ace has forced his arms over his head, held there by a binding grip on both wrists. sabo’s eyes are tightly closed in protest, trying to remember how to breathe again. it takes him a moment to realize that was a very bad idea, and slowly he forces them open, watching as ace shifts to hold sabo with one hand and reach into his waistband with his other.

sabo shrinks back at the flash of silver, eyes growing wide as ace lifts the switchblade and turns it this way and that, inspecting the blade. everything he’d endured so far had been limited to blunt-force trauma. if he got stabbed he was dead, for real this time. his eyes track the blade as ace lifts it higher, holding it even with sabo’s face.

“this isn’t working out how i thought it would,” ace admits, eyes lidding. sabo’s gaze flicks to him before returning to the knife, and ace notices, lowering it out of view again. sabo’s gaze reluctantly turns back to him. “i thought i would be satisfied with this, but . .” he leans forward, until he’s a breath away from sabo. “i want to hear you,” he whispers, a manic gleam in his eyes that sabo almost scoffs at.

that is, until the curve of the knife is pressed up against his cheek. sabo stills automatically, not hardly daring to breathe. ace slides it across the skin there, carefully, almost no pressure, turning the blade to point up. there’s no cut left behind, but the graze lingers, phantom pain leaving sabo questioning if it was a threat or a promise.

carefully, he bites down on the rope, swallows. ace notices, tracking the minute motions, and a smile pulls wide on his lips. sabo plays along for a moment, looking up at ace through his lashes. that smile widens.

“good,” ace coos, moving the knife until the sharp is pressed against the rope. “good. you get it, don’t you?” he waits until sabo inclines his head just the tiniest bit. “yeah, i knew you would. you’re smart.” he hums. “hold still for me.”

in one smooth motion ace cuts through the bulk of the rope, ending an upward arc near sabo’s ear. it sags on one side, but it’s still held in sabo’s mouth on the other, and he’s not about to move and risk upsetting ace again, not with his skin still humming from the earlier graze.

ace flips the blade in his grip so it’s pointed down and he has free fingers to reach down and pull the rope from sabo’s mouth. sabo dutifully parts his lips and lets it slide out, breathing slowly while ace allows it to drop on the ground. he kicks it away and sabo opens his mouth to speak but ace is pressing his other leg up against sabo in the same motion, using it to keep him trapped against the wall. his hand clenches around sabo’s wrists in a warning and sabo’s teeth slam together in a tense grunt at the pain shooting down both arms. the next time he pries his eyes open ace has moves closer, curiosity on his face. he glances to the switchblade and flips it back up, so close to sabo with the motion that he flinches to the right, just a little. 

ace hums and his eyes darken. “if i knew all i needed to tame you was something like this, i would’ve made you mine long ago. would’ve saved me some trouble, at the least.”

sabo feels brave, and he looks back up with a snarl. “excuse me for not feeling like dying!”

ace tips his head. he’s smiling again, eager for another rise, but sabo settles down, not willing to let him have it. “oh, sabo.” ace sighs, his breath tickling sabo’s skin. he shakes his head. “i wouldn’t let you die. don’t you know that by now?”

sabo raises a brow. “sure could’ve fooled me. looked that way, y’know, when you set the courthouse on fire.”

“i knew you’d get out!” ace whines in protest. he lifts the knife back up and sabo stills, eyeing it warily. “i knew you . .” ace’s eyes turn glassy, unfocused. his lips are still parted. he curves the blade until it’s pressed hard to sabo’s cheeks and holds it there.

sabo freezes, immediately goes through a number of possibilities in which he manages to talk ace out of it, and comes to a startling realization that none of them would succeed. he didn’t know how ace’s mind worked. there wasn’t a way he could win this. 

ace jerks his hand down in the next moment and sabo is saved the trouble of thinking on it as a cut opens up. his eyes dilate and he can’t help the slight gasp that escapes his throat. ace is already flipping the knife so his fingers are free to grab hold of sabo’s jaw, tilting his head.

he moves closer and sabo grits down on his teeth at the feeling of a tongue sliding along the wound. he twists his lips and the movement makes the cut bleed more, and ace laps it up again before leaning back, just so he can meet sabo’s eyes, blue and  _ burning. _

“you sick bastard,” sabo manages.

“i’m in good health,” ace protests in a monotone voice. “but you’re not wrong about the last part.”

sabo winces as his fingers move from his jawline to the cut. he drags blood around sabo’s cheek for a minute and then releases him completely. slowly, he sticks out his tongue and runs the blade along the middle, opening up a shallow cut. sabo purses his lips as he watches, eyes squinting shut.  _ in good health, _ he says. yeah fucking righ-

the thought is cut off when ace pushes forward and digs his thumb into the cut. sabo’s mouth opens in a startled cry, and then ace’s lips are on his own, bruising as he opens them further and pries his tongue inside. sabo gets one moment to figure out what the hell was happening and then violently wrenches back, until his head is slammed against the wall in the same spot he’d hit the ground earlier and he can barely see ace in front of him, everything going startlingly blurry. he forces his lips closed and huffs out a breath through his nose and then opens them again because he wasn’t staying silent on this.

“what the  _ fuck-” _ he hisses, “are you doing?”

“i thought it was only fair to share,” ace murmurs, licking his lips. right. the blood. that would explain the weird taste in sabo’s mouth. 

“you’re  _ insane,” _ he breathes. he flexes his hands in ace’s grip, trying to gauge his strength. if he can get his fists together, he can use the momentum to help and drive them down on ace’s head. even if it wasn’t hard enough to knock him out, sabo’s hands were in front of him now, so he’d at least be able to do  _ something _ to follow up.

ace bends closer and sabo tenses, but he stops short, mouth twisting into a smile. “not quite,” he mutters, lifting his arm as he does.

sabo’s eyes widen and he chokes on his next breath. his fingers extend, twitching on impulse, and sabo’s mouth opens in a silent cry. ace grins and twists slightly, imbedding the knife further into the wall, holding sabo’s hand there securely. “that’s better,” he muses, as he drops both hands and watches as sabo’s stay in place, the free one refusing to lower and the stuck one unable to move. 

sabo lets out a choked cry but eventually he can’t hold it back anymore, face crumpling completely from the blinding pain. ace stabbed through a bone, he must have, because even without moving sabo can tell the top portion of a couple fingers is slack, like he could no longer move them even if he wanted to. 

“that’s it. that’s what i wanted to see!” ace reaches up with a free hand and grabs sabo’s chin, tilting his face until his eyes barely slide open, hazy from pain. “you don’t have to hold back. let it all out, sabo.”

sabo feels inclined to do the exact opposite, forcing down a sob and clamping his mouth shut. he tries to glare at ace but it’s weak, as another wave of pain shoots through his hand.

“guess you’re harder to break than i thought,” ace mutters. sabo spares one moment to wonder what the  _ fuck _ that meant and the next several biting into his lips to keep them shut, his breaths coming harsh through his nose as ace’s teeth rip into his shoulder. tears gather at the ends of his eyes and sabo holds them there tighter, refusing to let them fall. ace moves back again and sabo relaxes just a little in relief, but the movement drags his shoulders down the wall and his mouth falls open in a whine as it pulls on the hole in his hand.

“mmm, you taste just as good as i imagined.” ace licks his lips again, eyes falling onto sabo’s face. 

sabo doesn’t spare any thought when he jerks his right hand down, fully intent on strangling ace right then and there. the problem is the cuffs he had forgotten about, halting the motion before he can get very far. it doesn’t stop his left hand from sliding further up the knife, and sabo cries out again, leaving his hand hanging stiff in midair.

“it’s okay,” ace whispers, far too close for sabo’s comfort. both of his legs press sabo into the wall again, and he reaches a hand up to twine it with sabo’s right, holding it steady, pressing it back. “you’re mad, aren’t you? it’s unlike you to forget about that.” his eyes narrow in thought. “you must be in so much pain. you can show me, sabo. you don’t have to hide it.”

sabo tenses up and ace slides against him further, other arm coming to press across his collarbone. the hitch in his throat is involuntary, as ace’s fingers tighten around his own. ace’s breath is hot on his lips. sabo refuses to open his eyes. he can already feel his cheeks wet, mixing with the blood on his left side. there’s a slick trail of it down his left arm, and it’s fallen heavy onto the crown of his head, staining his light hair. it makes him  _ sick _ thinking about it. how much blood he’s lost in a matter of minutes. his chances of getting out just got a hell of a lot slimmer. 

“now,” ace says, and his lips almost move against sabo’s own with each word. “you should think twice before trying to escape again.”

**Author's Note:**

> i write abt hand injuries a lot probably to cope w the fact my own are so fucked up /shot


End file.
